CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) Price Target Raised to $32.00

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) had its price target raised by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $28.00 to $32.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target points to a potential upside of 6.38% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Scotiabank decreased their price target on CenterPoint Energy from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on CenterPoint Energy from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $28.00 price target on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a report on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of CenterPoint Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $29.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of CenterPoint Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CenterPoint Energy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.91.

CenterPoint Energy Stock Up 0.4 %

CNP traded up $0.12 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $30.08. The company had a trading volume of 660,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,368,651. CenterPoint Energy has a 1-year low of $25.41 and a 1-year high of $31.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $19.24 billion, a PE ratio of 21.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $27.89 and a 200-day moving average of $28.86.

CenterPoint Energy (NYSE:CNP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. CenterPoint Energy had a net margin of 12.28% and a return on equity of 10.81%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that CenterPoint Energy will post 1.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CenterPoint Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 38.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 10,602,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $302,070,000 after purchasing an additional 2,961,464 shares during the period. Railway Pension Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of CenterPoint Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $63,758,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC grew its holdings in shares of CenterPoint Energy by 46.6% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 4,666,563 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $144,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,484,079 shares in the last quarter. Maple Brown Abbott Ltd acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter worth $42,548,000. Finally, Merewether Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of CenterPoint Energy in the second quarter worth $31,188,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.77% of the company’s stock.

CenterPoint Energy Company Profile

CenterPoint Energy, Inc operates as a public utility holding company in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Electric and Natural Gas. The Electric segment includes electric transmission and distribution services to electric customers and electric generation assets, as well as optimizes assets in the wholesale power market.